9-28-03
CHISELING OUR MONUMENT
After I spoke to a group of real estate and development leaders one of them rose to say the government I served for over two decades should honor me by naming something after me. I appreciated his thought but pointed out a professorship in public administration has been established in my name at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and I can think of only one greater honor.
It brought to mind the words of one of my heroes, Robert Sparks Walker, a local naturalist who established the Audubon Society. He wrote:
Let there be named for me
no town or park or school.
To every man God gives the tools
to build his own name -
a living monument.
So let me chisel deep
on human hearts that keep
my sympathy, my love and joy
We are chiseling our own monuments on the hearts of those around us every moment of our lives. Can there be a higher monument than the one we are chiseling in those hearts?
When visiting my cousin in Montgomery, I went to visit the sculpture of Hank Williams and his elaborate grave site. Standing there looking at all that marble I realized how his words and indomitable spirit had influenced my life. The words to many of his masterful songs are chiseled on my heart. It's that chiseling on hearts that brings the greatest honor to his name.
Let us not worry about being carved into marble when we can daily leave an eternal mark on the hearts of human souls. And the only tools we need are tools we possess: love, joy, peace, kindness, thoughtfulness, and courage. Simply be becoming a better person we might inspire someone to come to life.
It's a monument that will stand when the winds of time have worn away the last molecule of a mountain of marble.
**********
Enjoy Dalton's website by going to http://www.daltonroberts.com/
